Pocket implement.



M. P. HERMANN.

POCKET IMPLEMENT. APPLIGATION FILED MAY 16, 1910.

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MAX P. HERMANN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

POCKET IMPLEMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 30,1913.

Application filed May 16, 1910. Serial No. 561,534.

closed position through the end of the.

handle.

It is the object of my invention to provide a knife or implement which shall be very simple in construction and eflicient in operation, and in which the blade when in its outermost or open position, shall be rigidly held against play or lost motion in its sup- In the drawings Iillustrate and herein I describe, a good form of a convenient embodiment of my invention, the particular subject matter claimed as novel being hereinafter definitely specified.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of my improved knife with the blade in closed position. Fig. 2 is a view of the same, looking toward the inner end, as I term it, of the device. Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of the knife, the side wall nearest the eye being supposed removed, the block 6 however, being shown as in position, notwithstanding the removal of the wall which supports it, and the blade being shown as in its intermediate position in the course of its descent to open position.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, the blade,

however, being in its outermost position, and locked in place by the controller. Fig. 5 is a view of the device, with the blade extended, sight being taken toward the upper or back edge of the handle. Fig. 6 is a view of the structure, sight being taken toward the front end, with the blade in extended or open position. Fig. 7 is a view taken toward the front end of the structure, with the blade in section on the line 77 of Fig. 4. Fig. 8 is a view, in perspective, of the controller.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

In the drawings, 1 is the body of the handle, of U shape in transverse section throughout its length, except at the front end portion where it is closed on all four sides. The two side walls are designated 2, 3, respectively, the bottom wall 4, and the short top wall at the front of the structure, 5.

Conveniently the handle may be bent up from a single blank of sheet metal, with the two abutting edges of the latter adjacent to the front end of the handle secured by rivets to the flat stationary metal wedge block 6, within the bore or blade chamber of the handle, as shown in Fig. 1, by which an rangement the adjacent parts of the handle are retained in the desired form and set, and the said block itself retained in its desired relationship with respect to the body of the handle and operative parts. The block 6 is in contact with the top wall 5, its outer edge is flushv with the open mouth of the handle, and its lower edge is shaped to constitute the extended inclined plane bearing edge or shoulder, 7, which as shown faces, so to speak, the inner end or interior of the handle. Said bearing edge 7 as viewed in profile as in Figs. 3 and 4, extends diagonally with respect to the wall 2 which carries it. The side face of said block, which confronts or overlies the blade, is flat.

The blade 8 (or other tool) is of such size as to lie snugly within the bore or blade chamber of the handle. Said blade has at its haft or base, 9, and on that side of the haft which faces the block 6, a boss 10, which latter, although I have shown it as secured by rivets to the haft, may of course be otherwise provided and may be considered as a part of the haft and tool. The bottom portions of the haft and boss constitute what I term a foot 11 which projects beyond the cutting edge of the blade, and embodies or constitutes an extended plane bearing face in parallelism with the handle and which rests, and in the movement of the blade slides, upon the inner face of the bottom wall 4 of the handle, with the result that the cutting edge of the said blade, whether the blade is within the handle or in transit to its inner or its outer position, is assisted by said foot in being maintained out of contact with the handle, and dulling of said cutting edge which would result from constant contact of said edge and handle. is diminished or avoided.

The boss 10 is conveniently, similar to the block (3, of thickness about equal to half the distance between the opposing inner faces of the walls 2, 3,-the side face of said boss, which opposes and is in contact with the wall 2, is flat, and one edge is shaped to constitute the extended inclined plane bearing edge or shoulder, 13. The inner or rear end of the boss is, as shown, inclined rear wardly from its upper to its lower edge, said inner end edge constituting the inclined plane bearing edge 14.

The handle is provided with a rocking controller, 15, pivotally mounted upon the walls 2, 3, and of breadth sufficient to cover -or close the space between the upper edges of the said walls. Saidcontroller is conveniently provided with an apertured head 16 for the reception of a pivot, and said head contains a notch or seat 17 for the reception of a spring 18. A flange 19 which forms part of the controller, extends down between the walls 2, 3, adjacent to the wall 2. The front end of said flange, above the finger 21, is positioned in a small guide recess 12 in the inner end of the top wall 5- as shown in Figs. 4 and 5whereby said controller is guided and prevented from sidewise movement in its inward and outward movement. Said controller is conveniently formed with the tooth 20, near its rear or pivot end, the finger 21 at its front end, and the operating projection 22 at its front end.

The spring 18 is shown, see Figs. 2, 3, and 4, as of the form of a cross, one end projects through a small opening in the bottom wall 4, its two side arms are engaged in slight notches or seats in the end edges of the walls 2, 3, and its long end or arm projects within the notch 17 in the controller. The tendency of said spring is to press against the rear wall of said notch 17 and throw the front end of the controller inwardly between the side walls 2 3, that is into the position shown in Fig. 4. \Vhen the blade has passed to its outermost position, and the controller, under stress of its spring 18, has returned to its innermost or normal position, shown in Fig. 4, the free end of the controller, that is to say the finger 21 in the described construction, will abut against the edge 14 at the inner or rear end of the boss, and thus prevent the rearward movement of the blade, until the controller is manually elevated out of its way and into the position shown in Fig. 3.

The rear edge of the boss having the inclined bearing edge 14 as described, it is obvious that in the inward or downward movement of the controller to the position shown in Fig. 4, when the blade or other tool is out or extended,-the finger 21 at the end of the controller will come to rest in a position of direct contact with said edge 14, thus locking the wedge-like boss 10 into the wedge shaped space between the block 6, and the wall 4 of the handle, with the inclined or diagonal face or shoulder 13 in contact with the inclined or diagonal face 7, and as a result of this arrangement, a firm locking of the tool in extended position is secured and endwise play of the tool precluded.

When the blade is in its innermost position, the tooth 20 of the controller, when the latter is in closed position, is seated, in the construction illustrated, in a recess 23 in the back of the blade, to retain said blade in such position. The finger 21 of the controller, extends beneath the inner edge of the wall 5, so that said wall will be encountered by said linger in the outward pivotal movement of the controller, hence said wall limits such out-ward pivotal movement and prevents the controller from being swung so far outward as to occasion misadjustment of the spring 18.

The bottom edge of the haft with its boss, as stated, rests, when the blade is in open or extended position, against the bottom wall of the handle, and the seat or region of contact extends from the lip of the handle for a considerable distance rearwardly;a plane side face of the haft is in contact with the plane inner-side face of the wall 3 of the handle, and the seat or region of contact extends from the lip of the handle for a considerable distance rearwardly; the plane upper edge of the haft is in contact with the plane inner face of the top wall, and the seat or region of contact ex: tends from the lip of the handle fora considerable distance rearwardly; the remaining side face of the haft, as to that portion not covered by the boss, 10, is in contact with the side face of the wedge block 6, the seat or region of contact extending the full length of said block; while the side face of the boss is in contact with the plane inner face of the wall 2, the seat or region of contact extending the full length of said boss, and the extended inclined plane bearing edge or shoulder 7 of the block is in contact with the extended inclined plane bearing edge or shoulder 13 of the boss.

By means of the arrangement just described the blade or other tool when extended is so securely encompassed in the region of its haft, by the handle, that the lateral play of the blade or tool, in use, is preeluded.

The operating projection 22 projects laterally slightly beyond the wall 3 of the handle, and by it the controller may be readily swung on its pivot outwardly, to the position shown in Fig. 3, to allow the travel of the blade. To open the knife, it is held with its front or open end downward, whereupon the manual swinging of the controller outward, as shown in Fig. 3, withdraws the tooth 20 from the notch 23, and thus frees the blade, whereupon the latter will descend by gravity into the position shown in Fig. 4, and the controller, when no longer held out by the user, automatically seats itself with its finger 21 abutting against the boss to hold the blade in its extended or open position. To close the knife, it is held with its front or open end upward, and, the controller being manually swung outward, to carry its finger 21 out of the path of the blade, the latter will descend by gravity to its closed position, and the controller, when released, will, under the influence of its spring, resume its closed position, and the tooth will reengage in the notch 23 to retain the blade within the handle.

As will be readily understood, the arrangement of the extended inclined or diagonally disposed bearing edges or shoulders across the fiat side face of the haft and the 7 side wall of the handle, respectively, providing a wedge-like seat for a wedge-like member, greatly'economizes space, and enables the structure to be made in very compact form.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a pocket implement, in combination, a hollow handle having an open outer end, and having also an inclined surface within its outer end portion, which inclined surface faces the rear end of said handle, a tool which slides endwise with respect to said handle, and the inner end portion of which tool has an inclined surface which faces the open end of said handle and when the tool is in outermost posit-ion makes close contact with the inclined surface first mentioned, and a spring controlled locking device, which when the tool is in the last described position, secures said tool temporarily in such position.

2. In a pocket implement, in combination, a hollow handle having an open outer end and having also an inclined surface within its outer end portion, which inclined surface faces the rear end of said handle, a tool mounted within and which slides endwise with respect to said handle, and the inner end portion of which tool has an inclined surface which faces the open end of said handle, and when the tool is in outermost position, makes close contact with the inclined surface first mentioned, the inner end portion of which tool has also a rearwardly facing inclined surface, and a controller, pivotally mounted in said handle, which controller, when the tool is in the outer position described, is free to abut against said rearwardly facing inclined surface of the tool to lock said tool against rearward movement.

3. In a pocket implement, in combination, a hollow handle having a containing chamber, the outer end portion of which chamber embodies a recess of tapered character, a tool adapted to slide by gravity in either direction through said chamber and the rear end portion of which tool embodies a portion conformed to said recess and adapted when said tool is in its outermost position to enter and be wedged within said recess, to lock said extended tool tightly against lateral movement with respect to said handle, said tool having a face at its rear end, a con troller mounted on said handle and having movement into and out of the path of movement of said tool, and which controller when the tool is in its outermost position, is free to abut against said face at the rear end of the tool to lock said tool firmly in its wedged engagement in the outer end portion of the handle, a part of the free end of said controller extending and remaining beneath the edge of one wall of the handle, whereby the outward movement of said controller is limited, and a spring which operates to hold said controller temporarily in its innermost position.

a. In a pocket implement, in combination, a hollow handle having an open outer end, a projection rising from the surface of the interior face of said handle, and constituting a rearwardly facing shoulder arranged diagonally of the handle face which carries it, a tool mounted within and free to slide endwise with respect to said handle, a projection on the side of the inner end portion of said tool, constituting an outwardly facing shoulder extending diagonally with respect to the face of the tool portion on which it is mounted, said last mentioned shoulder making close contact with the first mentioned shoulder when the tool is in outermost position, and spring-controlled means for locking the tool in outermost position.

In a pocket implement, in combination, a hollow handle having an open outer end, a projection rising from the surface of the interior face of said handle and constituting a rearwardly facing shoulder arranged diagonally of the handle face which carries it, a tool mounted within and free to slide endwise with respect to said handle, a projection on the side of the inner end portion of said tool, constituting an outwardly facing shoulder extending diagonally of the face of the tool portion on which it is mounted, said last mentioned shoulder making contact with the first mentioned shoulder when the tool is in the outermost position, said tool having at its inner end a rearwardly facing inclined face, a controller pivotally mounted in the handle and having an end arranged to engage against the rearwardly facing inclined face of said tool when the tool is in outermost position, to secure said tool in such position.

6. In a pocket implement, in combination, a hollow handle having an open outer end, a projection rising from the surface of the interior face of said handle and constituting a rearwardly facing shoulder arranged diagonally of the handle face which carries it,

a tool mounted within and free to slide end- Wise With respect to said handle, a projection on the side of the inner end portion of said tool, constituting an outwardly facing shoulder extending diagonally of the face of the tool portion on which it is mounted, said last mentioned shoulder making contact with the first mentioned shoulder when the tool is in the outermost position, said tool having at its inner end a rearwardly facing contact face, a controller pivotally mounted in the handle and having an end arranged to engage against said last mentioned face when the tool is in outermost position, and a laterally extending operating projection carried by said controller.

7. In combination with a knife handle, a blade disposed therein and free for longitudinal movement with respect to said handle, said blade embodying a notch, said handle having an open outer end the inner face of which end has on each of its four sides a longitudinally extending plane bearing surface, said blade having a rear end portion or haft of section corresponding to the shape of the opening in the end of the handle, which portion has on each of its sides a longitudinally extending plane bearing surface which when the blade is in its outermost position makes extended contact with one of the plane surfaces first mentioned, said hanglle having on the inner face of one of its side walls an abruptly projecting shoulder facing the inner end of the handle, and extending diagonally with respect to said wall, and said haft having on its side an abruptly projecting shoulder facing the outer end of said handle and extending diagonally with respect to the side face of the said haft, the diagonally extending shoulder of said haft being when the haft is in its outermost position, in close contact with the diagonally extending face of the shoulder carried by the handle, said haft having also an inwardly facing edge arranged to be encountered by the controller, a controller pivotally mounted on said handle, and movable into and out of the path of travel of the blade, a spring which normally maintains said controller in a selected position, and a tooth carried by said controller and adapted to engage in the notch in the blade when the blade is in its innermost position.

8. In combination, a hollow handle having an open end, a blade mounted in said handle and free for longitudinal movement with respect thereto, a controller mounted on said handle by a pivot, a spring mounted in the handle and operating against the controller to throw the latter to a predetermined set, a block or plate on the inner side wallof said handle, that edge of the block or plate which faces the rear end of the handlebeing diagonally disposed with respect to the handle, a boss formed on the blade and projecting from its side, that edge of said boss which faces the front end of the handle being diagonally disposed with respect to the blade, the diagonally disposed edges of the respective block and boss being in close contact when the blade is in its outermost position, and said controller, when the blade is in the last mentioned position, being in contact with the rear end of the said blade.

In testimony that I claim the'foregoing as my invention, I have hereunto signed my name this 28th day of April, A. D. 1910.

PAUL M. HERMANN, WVM. CLEMENT Lnns.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

